Cops: Man beat, burned woman
KANEOHE, Oahu (AP) — Police say a 52-year-old Kaneohe man beat his girlfriend repeatedly with a guitar and set her arm on fire.
Andrew Brown has been charged with abusing a family member and second-degree assault.
Police say Brown was arguing with his girlfriend on a barge at a pier, then hit her with the guitar. Police say he then splashed rubbing alcohol on her arm and ignited the liquid.
Authorities say the woman ran away and flagged down a driver. Police say she was taken to a hospital but her burns were not life threatening. Authorities arrested Brown on the barge. Brown’s bail has been set at $25,000.
Man gets life in beating death
HONOLULU (AP) — A 19-year-old man convicted in the beating death of an Oahu taxi driver has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Kilani Derego was sentenced Wednesday. A jury took less than four hours earlier this year to find him guilty of second-degree murder in the 2010 death of Charlys Tang.
Tang died in a hospital after he was found badly beaten in a Waipahu supermarket parking lot. It was his 41st birthday. Derego denied beating Tang, or that he had been a passenger in his taxi on the night of the attack. He claimed he was at a party with his girlfriend at the time.
Co-defendant Michael Robles is serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter.
Rail may face $150M cutback
HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu’s planned rail project faces a $150 million reduction in federal funds.
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved a budget Tuesday to cut funding for the project, which the Obama administration requested $250 million for.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye says he will continue to ensure Honolulu receives the necessary funding to advance the 20-mile rail project.
Louis Stevenson hut is restored
HONOLULU (AP) — A grass hut memorial to famed author Robert Louis Stevenson has been restored and is reopening to the public nearly 90 years after the original hut was first sold.
Salvation Army officials say the “Little Grass Shack” will receive a Hawaiian blessing and dedication ceremony today. The reopening comes eight years after the previous hut was flattened in a windstorm.
The famous author of “Treasure Island” spent six months living in Hawaii and many hours of his time at a grass hut in Waikiki, near the home of Princess Kaiulani. The father of the princess was friends with Stevenson, and the author became friends with Kaiulani, as well.
A Salvation Army official outbid a farmer for the hut in 1926, then moved it to Manoa onto Salvation Army grounds.
